Orioles' 9th-inning rally falls short in 3-2 loss to Nationals

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on May 15, 2026

Published in Baseball

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WASHINGTON — The Orioles pushed the tying run to 90 feet away, but eight innings of scoreless offense did them in.

Despite a two-run, ninth-inning rally, Baltimore lost, 3-2, to the Washington Nationals on Friday night as Zack Littell, who entered the game with a 6.94 ERA and the most home runs allowed in MLB this season, pitched five scoreless frames to outduel Shane Baz.

The Orioles (20-25) loaded the bases twice in the final frame and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeremiah Jackson and an RBI single by Gunnar Henderson, but Adley Rutschman struck out swinging to end the game.

It spoiled a breakout performance for Baz, who delivered his best start as an Oriole. The right-hander shook off back-to-back five-run outings by setting a season high in innings (seven), allowing three runs on six hits and three walks with four strikeouts. Though the Nationals’ lineup had been a formidable unit this season, ranking second in MLB at 5.36 runs per game, Baz worked around some hard contact and stranded six base runners.

Left fielder Daylen Lile delivered the only big blow against him — a two-run home run in the sixth as he finished a triple short of the cycle. Third baseman Brady House accounted for the only other run of the day with a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

The Orioles, meanwhile, had no answers for Littell or left-hander Andrew Alvarez, who pitched three innings in relief before putting two runners on to open the top of the ninth. Nationals manager Blake Butera, a close friend of Orioles skipper Craig Albernaz, who played under him in the Tampa Bay Rays’ farm system, then brought in right-hander Gus Varland.

Varland walked Leody Taveras to load the bases with no outs and secured the first two outs before Butera went back to his bullpen for right-hander Richard Lovelady, who gave up the run-scoring single to Henderson before hanging on for the save.